Regular practice is essential to achieving competency in the game of golf. Golfing centers offering the golfer hitting areas to practice and improve are highly popular. Such practice areas, often called driving ranges, employ artificial mats off of which a ball may be hit with a club. Unfortunately, many artificial golf hitting areas do not give the golfer a realistic feel to compare with hitting from turf or grass, and may even promote unsound techniques among certain golfers. Artificial surfaces may also increase the chance of injury to the golfer since they do not compress at the same rate as turf or grass.
In addition, golf ground shots require the golf club to be swung so that the head passes through the portion of the ball and ground surfaces so as to displace a portion of the turf similarly known as a “divot.” Therefore, to approximate the feel of a natural fairway, artificial practice surfaces for ground shots should deform to allow the passage of the club head through the turf, and yet provide sufficient resistance to give the golfer the feel of taking a divot. A crucial component of mastering the game of golf is the ability to understand and correct flaws in a golfer's swing. One such flaw is an incorrect path of the golf club into impact. Another such flaw is hitting behind the ball, or hitting “fat”, at the golfer's point of impact with the ball.
Previous artificial mats disclose solutions for suspendable portions that can move in response to a blow from a swing of the golf club. Such mats use springs, elastic, rubber bands or the like to provide a movable surface. Other golf mats have artificial turf surfaces made of belts that move along the same path along which the club head travels. These surfaces, however, have not solved the problem of simulating a realistic hitting surface and providing a visual indicator of club path and the club's point of contact at impact.
Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has identified a number of deficiencies and problems with artificial golf surfaces and training aids. Applicant has developed a solution that is embodied by the present invention, which is described in detail below.